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rfc:rfc4157

Network Working Group P. Hoffman Request for Comments: 4157 VPN Consortium Category: Historic August 2005

                      The prospero URI Scheme

Status of This Memo

 This memo defines a Historic Document for the Internet community.  It
 does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
 this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

 This document specifies the prospero Uniform Resource Identifier
 (URI) scheme that was originally specified in RFC 1738.  The purpose
 of this document is to allow RFC 1738 to be made obsolete while
 keeping the information about the scheme on standards track.

1. Introduction

 URIs were previously defined in RFC 2396 [RFC2396], which was updated
 by RFC 3986 [RFC3986].  Those documents also specify how to define
 schemes for URIs.
 The first definitions for many URI schemes appeared in RFC 1738
 [RFC1738].  Because that document has been made obsolete, this
 document copies the prospero URI scheme from it to allow that
 material to remain on standards track.

2. Scheme Definition

 The prospero URL scheme is used to designate resources that are
 accessed through the Prospero Directory Service.  The Prospero
 protocol is described in the original Prospero specification [PROSP].
 Historical note: The Prospero protocol was not widely implemented and
 almost no Prospero servers are in use today.
 A prospero URL takes the form:
 prospero://<host>:<port>/<hsoname>;<field>=<value>

Hoffman Historic [Page 1] RFC 4157 The prospero URI Scheme August 2005

 If :<port> is omitted, the port defaults to 1525.  No username or
 password is allowed.
 The <hsoname> is the host-specific object name in the Prospero
 protocol, suitably encoded.  This name is opaque and interpreted by
 the Prospero server.  The semicolon ";" is reserved and may not
 appear without quoting in the <hsoname>.
 Prospero URLs are interpreted by contacting a Prospero directory
 server on the specified host and port to determine appropriate access
 methods for a resource.  The access methods might themselves be
 represented as different URLs.  External Prospero links are
 represented as URLs of the underlying access method and are not
 represented as Prospero URLs.
 Note that a slash "/" may appear in the <hsoname> without quoting,
 and no significance may be assumed by the application.  Though
 slashes may indicate hierarchical structure on the server, such
 structure is not guaranteed.  Note that many <hsoname>s begin with a
 slash, in which case the host or port will be followed by a double
 slash: the slash from the URL syntax, followed by the initial slash
 from the <hsoname> (e.g., <URL:prospero://example.com//pros/name>
 designates a <hsoname> of "/pros/name").
 In addition, after the <hsoname>, optional fields and values
 associated with a Prospero link may be specified as part of the URL.
 When present, each field/value pair is separated from each other and
 from the rest of the URL by a ";" (semicolon).  The name of the field
 and its value are separated by a "=" (equal sign).  If present, these
 fields serve to identify the target of the URL.  For example, the
 OBJECT-VERSION field can be specified to identify a specific version
 of an object.

3. Security Considerations

 Many security considerations for URI schemes are discussed in
 [RFC3986].  [PROSP] uses passwords in the clear for authentication,
 and offers no privacy, both of which are considered extremely unsafe
 in current practice.

Hoffman Historic [Page 2] RFC 4157 The prospero URI Scheme August 2005

4. Informative References

 [RFC1738]  Berners-Lee, T., Masinter, L., and M. McCahill, "Uniform
            Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, December 1994.
 [RFC2396]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
            Resource Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396,
            August 1998.
 [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
            Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", STD 66, RFC
            3986, January 2005.
 [PROSP]    Neuman, B. and S. Augart, "The Prospero Protocol",
            USC/Information Sciences Institute, June 1993.

Author's Address

 Paul Hoffman
 VPN Consortium
 127 Segre Place
 Santa Cruz, CA  95060
 US
 EMail: paul.hoffman@vpnc.org

Hoffman Historic [Page 3] RFC 4157 The prospero URI Scheme August 2005

Full Copyright Statement

 Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
 This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
 contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
 retain all their rights.
 This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
 "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
 OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET
 ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
 INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE
 INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED
 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

 The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
 Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
 pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
 this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
 might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
 made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  Information
 on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
 found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
 Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
 assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
 attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
 such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
 specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
 http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
 The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
 copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
 rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
 this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
 ipr@ietf.org.

Acknowledgement

 Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
 Internet Society.

Hoffman Historic [Page 4]

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